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Huge Pricing Difference in Dental Care

The Consumer Council has conducted a survey of dentists' price levels, price information and treatment options across the country. The survey revealed major shortcomings, differentials and unpleasent conditions.

Price Information

The public dental clinic, run by counties, are generally quick to inform about prices for both its website and in the clinics. The private clinics, however, are sloppy. The Consumer Council has gone to 36 private dental clinics, and 34 of them were open. Eight clinics – one in four clinic – did not have any updated prices at the clinic available to patients and even two clinics did not provide an updated price.

Random Pricing

The Consumer Council has also reviewed price lists, and checked how much some common dental care costs. It was revealed that many clinics are careless in giving extra fees and charges, and rates are set up in different ways. Moreover, dentists are using many incomprehensible scientific terms and denominations on the invoice that most people do not understand.

Huge pricing difference in the same service

The Consumer Council has put up some examples of common dental treatmentssuch as cleaning, repairing of holes, insertion of the crown and pulling of a tooth. Then, they collected the prices for all these teratments. The survey showed that the pricing difference for the same treatment is up to 67 percent.

Bigger Prices in Big Cities

Despite the competition among the dentists in Oslo, the dentists in the capital have a high price level. The most expensive clinics in Oslo charges up to 13 000 for the same treatments that cost under 8000 kroner at a public clinics in western Norway.

Facts About the Survey

Consumer Council's survey of the dental market has been carried out between 20 August – 6 October 2010 under the leadership of the senior adviser Geir Røed.

50 dental clinics (14 public and 36 private clinics) were visited in the frame of the study.

Two treatment samples were set, and prices for those sample treatments at all public clinics in Norway and a random sample of 36 private clinics were obtained.

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